Where Do Cultural Influences Come From?

When we think of how cultures came to be, we often think of races, technological advances and areas of the world. Many of the modern dissertations on this subject deal with how man invents culture himself by the environment he lives in and what stage of learning and development he is at. Is this true? Is this how culture is formed?

In the Bible, an entirely different world view is presented. This world view has, as it’s most powerful and influential creatures, angelic beings arranged in a hierarchical structure. God declares simply that he is (“say that I Am sent you.”) God declares that he created spiritual beings. These are real creatures, like man, but they have spiritual bodies, not physical ones.

The Bible tells us about a very dignified angel, perhaps the very top archangel named Lucifer who was the most beautiful and most powerful angel ever created. He was called the ‘angel of light’ and was given vast responsibility, perhaps the oversight of the entire earth itself. However Lucifer became filled with pride and decided he wanted to be God himself (to assume God’s position as the authority above all, including God).

When Lucifer attempted to overthrow God, he became the arch-enemy of God and was then called the Devil and Satan. The word “Satan” actually means ‘adversary’ or ‘enemy.’ Lucifer persuaded a third of the angels to side with him in the attempted overthrow. The devil and the angels that sided with him were cast out of heaven and to the earth. These fallen angels make up what we call the devil spirit kingdom.

There are several forms of a Greek word used to label these fallen spirits from which we get the word ‘demon.’ The Bible calls these fallen spiritual beings by various names which indicate their nature and what they do. The term ‘unclean spirit‘ is used many times to refer to a fallen angel. They are fallen, corrupt and will do anything they can to oppose God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

One very revealing thing about fallen spirits is that they too have to work with man’s free will to get man to do anything. They are restricted and have limited interaction with mankind, but by man’s own free will, they can be ‘invited in’ so to speak so that they can actually communicate with man. This is the object of seances, Quija boards and the like.

Those who desire to directly communicate with fallen angels often get involved in satanic cults and witchcraft. One brand of witches, called Wicca, claims they only use their incantations and spells for good, hence they call themselves ‘white witches.’ However their power is coming directly from fallen spirits no matter what the power is used for. Doing good things with evil power doesn’t produce good, it just furthers the devil’s agenda and gets more people to join his cause which is nothing but deception and destruction.

What does this have to do with where cultural influences come from? Everything. If you think of the word ‘inspiration’ you can literally see, ‘in spirit action.’ Where do ‘inspired’ thoughts come from? They ultimately come from the spiritual realm, from God’s kingdom or from the devil and his fallen angels. Now we start to understand how different practices and beliefs came about, from which culture is developed.

Mankind was created to follow God, the supreme spiritual being. The devil and his fallen angels are fully committed to deceive mankind with the objective to turn man away from God. The devil knows his destiny and wants to take as many down with him as he can.

The Bible instructs us about these things so we are not ignorant and so we know where to vest our efforts in helping God accomplish his will on earth as opposed to the devil’s will or our own will. Some of these verses are hard to understand, but with the explanation I’ve given thus far, which is fully supported by God’s Word, it should become clear.

New International VersionEphesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

In Ephesians, which is the greatest revelation given to the Christian Church, through the apostle Paul God says our battle is not against flesh and blood (not against human beings) but is against spiritual forces of evil. That is the devil’s kingdom of fallen spirits, my friend. God is telling us directly that the very thoughts and belief systems we are fighting against are spiritual in nature. It is those thoughts and belief systems that form the cultures of our world. Cultural influences originate in the spiritual realm.

The Biblical world view presents a drastically different picture than most people are aware of. They see things happening in the world and blame people, governments and organizations instead of realizing that evil spirits are at work. There are ‘myriads’ of angels, and one-third of them fell, indicating there is at least a ‘myraid’ of the fallen angels who have been at work since man was created to obstruct the purposes of God. There is a vast network of people who have been and are daily influenced by evil spirits and this is how the devil attempts to steer people away from God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The next time you read the news headlines about world events, realize that there are spiritual beings behind what is going on. Once you grasp that, you’ll be able to put the pieces together and more clearly see, from God’s perspective, what it is you need to be combating. The next time you speak with someone who opposes the truth of God’s Word, know that the person you are speaking with has been influenced by the spiritual kingdom of the devil. This doesn’t need to be a direct spiritual encounter with a devil spirit, though it could be. Most of the time, the person has just been strongly influenced by the culture in which he or she grew up in, that has already been formed by thoughts and beliefs promulgated by the evil spirit kingdom.

I only showed you one Bible verse that clearly shows the spiritual kingdom we ‘wrestle against.’ There are plenty of others which I’ll leave you to find on your own (contact me if you need help). It’s extremely important that you adopt God’s world view as described in the Bible, God’s Word. Dong so, you will have a better understanding of the world around you and God’s spiritual kingdom of which you are a part if you have confessed Jesus is Lord and believe God raised him from the dead.

Change your thinking to acknowledge that we do indeed live in a spiritual world. Direct your prayers to God through our Lord Jesus Christ and ask for spiritual insight. Ask God to open the eyes of your understanding (your heart) to see what’s going on spiritually in any given situation so you can better deal with it through the power of holy spirit God has placed within you.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

My admonition to you is directly from God’s Word:

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Cultural influences come either from God’s spiritual kingdom or from devil spirits. Be aware of this and learn to walk by the spirit of God.